A New World
by Shandys
Summary: Mercedes had ventured into a completely new world, nothing like what she's used to, smells to her like a completely new adventure. But it seems like something, similar to what she had before, is bothering her.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**Hello, welcome to my first fan fiction, but before I begin I have something to tell first.**

**NOTES:**

**There IS spoiler of Mercedes's story in here, so if you don't want her storyline to be spoiled, I'd suggest leave now.**

**T-rated just in case :D.**

**Majority or probably all of the chapters will be in Mercedes's POV.**

**The story begins after the tutorial.**

**That's probably all, oh wait.**

**DISCLAIMER: I am not Nexon, therefore I don't own Maple Story.**

**And yes, it's quite short. But it's the introductory!**

**Also, I would gladly accept any constructive criticism, grammar errors, spelling faults, anything.  
**

**That's all. :)**

* * *

..."What is this?" I looked around. Only seeing that Elluel is not snowing anymore... And being the only one thawed out.

"Everyone else is still encased in ice, except for me, but why?" I wandered around, baffled. But I noticed something, incredibly insulting.

"I feel weak, very weak, it's as if I've lost all of my strength." I feel sick, having to lean against wall to wall only to be able to walk.

I'm starting to feel a little bit depressed, being alone and weak, not living up to the 'Queen of the Elves' name. "Okay, get it together, Mercedes, you are the sovereign of the Elves, stay calm and think." Calming myself down, I swung my arms around and jumped. "Every body part seems to be working, apparently only my strength is affected."

"Perhaps I should practice on the dummies in the Elven School first, back to the basics I guess." I sighed, but this was a good idea, it's been years since I last did anything, I felt rusty. "Come on, Mercedes, you can do this, no one is watching." I hoped that no one observed me in such state. If the Elves knew their sovereign is in such state, they'd probably tell me to step down!

After practicing on the Leaf Dummies, I felt a bit stronger. "The good old times, struggling to take down even the weakest dummy. And I can't believe that I had to visit here again." Can anyone believe it? The Ruler of the Elves, Mercedes, having to train on dummies made for beginners! I feel so ridiculous now. "Last time, the Slimes outside was around level 50, of course, before then, I can absolutely decimate them. But now, they'd slime me to death!" I shook my head and went on to practice on more dummies.

"In this pace, I'd probably get back to my previous strength in about...a hundred thousand years." I got a bit disappointed in myself. "Okay, the only way that I can know what's going on in the world is to get out of Elluel, and there are slimes bouncing around outside. This is preposterous! I am the ruler of Elves! They should be afraid of me! There is no other way, I must get out of Elluel. If I can't defeat the Slimes, I can get around them." I gone out and something had surprised me. "These Slimes...doesn't look as strong as before." Indeed, I was right, these Slimes were much weaker than before. "How many years have to pass before these slimes could grow this weak? There's no mistaking it, the old Slimes would destroy me in seconds, but the new Slimes..."I looked at them, they stared at me with their innocent eyes and a friendly smile. I decided to leave them be and went out. Huge trees surrounded me. I wandered around before finding something amazing...


	2. Chapter 2: An Old Friend

**Welcome back, again, the same stuff.**

******There IS spoiler of Mercedes's story in here, so if you don't want her storyline to be spoiled, I'd suggest leave now.**

******DISCLAIMER: I am not Nexon, therefore I don't own Maple Story.**

* * *

...In front of my very own eyes is a city, or a village. "This village has never existed before; they really moved on a lot since last time. And majority of the population seems to be fairies, nymphs to be exact, the last two race of the fairies were nymphs and sylphs. I'd better ask someone about this village." I looked around, a boy with a white, spiky hair caught my eye. "Maybe he'll be a good start."

I approached the young boy. He immediately take notice of me and turned around, "What do you want?" Eek, what a rude boy, I thought to myself. "Hello, child, I wanted to ask about this village, can you tell me more about it?" I asked, as polite as I could be. "Gah, are you stupid or something? This is Ellinia, us fairies live here, but nowadays you huma-". Before he could finish his sentence, I got a bit upset, and spoke in a rather angry fashion. "Human? I am not a human! Can't you see my ears?!" By the looks of his face, I'd say I accidentally startled him.

"Right, where are my manners. I'm sorry about that, you're the only one that mistaken me as a human in my entire life, so it made me a little bit mad." I apologized, "Uh, okay. You're weird. But with that said, I noticed your ears are quite similar to ours, and probably is the prettiest pair of ears I've seen so far," He said as he blushed, "But what kind are you? You don't look like a fairy as you have no wings." I feel a lot better now and calmed myself down. "I'm an elf."

"Elf? But they're extinct a long, long time ago!" That baffled me, my heart sank. Elves, extinct? How could that be? "...Never mind that, thank you, child, I appreciated your help, I just need to spend sometime alone now."

"Alright, you weird creature," he said. I went and sat on a bench, completely lost of thought. Elves are extinct now, but how's that possible? I'm an elf! The only thing I can assume is someone spread lies while Elluel was sealed away and elves made no contact with the outside world.

While I was deep in my thought, someone interrupted. "Miss, do you have a problem?" I lifted my head up, and what I see, is unreal. Only one person I ever knew of used a cane and played around with cards so well. "Phantom...? Is that you?" Lost of words, he nodded and said, "Yes, your highness, and under your service," He teased.

I finally put a smile on my face, it's my first smile I ever had after all the hard facts I just took. "You're much prettier when you smile, Mercedes, you should keep that on your face all the time." I shrugged, "I wish I could, there's been so much going on since I was encased in ice. Speaking of that, what happened to you after the battle with Black Mage?"

His face darkens, "Same thing with you, but I got out of the ice about a week ago. Only to find out that a new group had been formed and they're trying to revive the Black Mage, some even said that the Black Mage is already back," He said. "I landed along with Aran, but when I even knew what's going on, he's already gone. I assume he got out even sooner than me. What about Luminous and Freud?" As soon as he asked, it feels like a knife stabbed me right in the heart. "Freud...is dead," It even hurts me to say it.

I paused a little bit, "As of Luminous, I've completely no idea," I said. Noticing the change of expression I had, Phantom seems to feel guilty for asking. He posed a 'sorry for asking' face, "It's okay, I can get over it," I said while half-smiling. But Phantom read straight through my mind, "I hope you do, keep your chin up, you're a queen, how would the elves feel if they see you in such state?" I nodded, "I'll try to."

"Good, that's the spirit!" Phantom gave me a few pat in the shoulder and said, "Right, I have to go, I'll assist you if you need it." I smiled, "Thank you." He disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

At least I know I still have a friend watching my back, that makes me feel a lot better. I wondered where should I go. As I was deep in my thought, I was interrupted, AGAIN. "Uh, I'm sorry to disturb you, miss, I hope you don't mind. May I question you?" I thought to myself: Of course I mind it! You better have something to tell, or else... Although I was quite annoyed, I answered, "Go ahead." I lifted my head up again.

It's a young child, a pair of big and innocent brown eyes stared at me. He's an archer, too. "Your weapons...they're interesting, can you tell me more about them?" He then looked at my dual bowguns. "Yes, they're unique. My town manufactured them, and I'm probably the last archer to ever use them," I told him about my weapon. "It's unfortunate, but that's how it is," I smiled at him.

He blushed, "Little one, train hard, one day you'll become one of the world's greatest archer. Eventually," I said to him. He nodded and ran away, it's weird. Chatting to him soothed my emotions. The way he stared at me, reminds me of the first time Freud met me.

But it is no time for nostalgia, I have to get a move on. I decided to do chores for the citizens living in Ellinia. Making more friends is a good start, plus I can get stronger this way. But I couldn't get my mind off Freud, although I have to; I don't want anyone else to worry about me. I've enough people worrying after me just because I'm a queen.

I sat up on a tree, observing the beautiful night sky. With thousands of thought going over my mind. But I heard a very faint noise, calling my name. "Your highness...your highness...your highnes..." I barely heard it, but it sounded extremely familiar. It sounded a lot like Philius's. "Your highness! Can you hear me?"

"Yes, but very faintly, who are you?" I asked. "I'm Philius, I'm sorry if this is inconvenient but I'd like you to get back to Elluel right now, we'll talk after." I stood up, and jumped down the tree, I have to get back to Elluel right now.


	3. Chapter 3: Familiar Face

**More same stuff, hurray!**

**There IS spoiler of Mercedes's story in here, so if you don't want her storyline to be spoiled, I'd suggest leave now. **

******DISCLAIMER: I am not Nexon, therefore I don't own Maple Story. **

* * *

Arriving in Elluel, I find something extremely reassuring."Philius! You're out from the ice!" I rushed towards him and hugged him. "Uh, your highness, can you let go?" He looks surprised and uncomfortable. I let go of him and looked around. "Danika and Astilda should be thawed out soon enough, let us watch," he said.

And sure enough, Danika and Astilda were thawed out, but the children are still encased in ice. "We have to find someone we know and trust well," I said. "I think I know of someone that you've forgotten, your highness." Danika answered. "Do you still remember the child you entrusted our treasure with?"

That gave me a shock in the brain. "Right, Athena Pierce! She's a young child back then!" I got a bit overjoyed. "Indeed, your highness, Athena could help us, but the problem is getting to her," Philius said.

"Do you know of anyone that you've befriended with?" Astilda asked.

One person instantly pops up to my mind. "Yes, I know an old friend who might be of help. Keep the town safe while I'm gone, alright?" I said.

The elders waved goodbye at me while I went out to Ellinia once again. And conveniently, I felt a familiar scent surrounding me. "Phantom, is it you?" I asked.

Little did I know Phantom is a more skilled ninja than ever. He popped up in front of me in an instant. "Do you need help?" He asked.

"Yes, have you heard of a name, 'Athena Pierce'?"

"Of course! She's an elf too right? She's a bowman instructor now, training new bowmen in Henesys," He answered.

"Henesys? I've never heard of that," I am confused, Henesys? Such a foreign word.

"Henesys is a town, houses there are shaped like mushrooms. It's a pretty sizable town, you can't miss it. However I can still lead you there, or if you want, you can take the taxi," He informed me pretty much everything I need to know.

I checked my backpack, scrambling around for mesos. Apparently I am short of mesos now, which I just found out. "I don't have much mesos now, let's leg it there, lead the way."

"Of course, your highness," he bowed and said.

I smiled, "Teasing me is getting you nowhere, Phantom."

He nodded self-consciously and led the way for me.

The trip was rather short, but that didn't stop Phantom from starting a conversation with me. "...You know, I've always wondered, since you've always told us you and Freud are 'just friends', why does his death bother you so much?"

I smirked, "Why? Is the 'World's Greatest Thief' jealous?" I said in a sarcastic voice.

He went quiet for a bit. He's right, whenever someone talk to me about Freud, it seems like I automatically show a different expression, sometimes I smile, sometimes I frown. So much so that my friends noticed it even.

But Phantom seems to take that seriously, he frowned. "I take all of my friends seriously, I care for them, everyone gets the same level of attention from me. If you died, I would've cared too, Phantom," I pulled out a sensible reason from nowhere.

But he still shook his head, it seems like something is going through his mind that I don't know and is related to me. "Are you hiding something from me?" I stared at him, right into his eyes, with my pair of emerald eyes.

"It's challenging to hide something from a gorgeous maiden like you, especially when she's staring at me innocently. But for now, I have to. For your own good, Mercedes, you have to discover it yourself," It appears like he are trying to tell me the truth, but at the same time he's resisting himself.

"If you say so," I said worryingly, "I hope you're right."

After twenty minutes of silence, we've finally reach Henesys. "Here we are," he said. "I'll lead you to the Bowman Training School, follow me." I nodded, smiling at him. He half-smiled back, but I know there's something going through his mind.

Something, something that I should know, but at the same time that I can't know.

We soon reached the school. "I'll stay outside while you deal with your matters," He said, I nodded and said, "Thank you." I went inside, and all I see is a familiar face and a young boy, whom appeared to be a new bowman. "Congratulation, now you're a bowman!"

The boy rushed out eagerly. "And you are...?!" The elf looks surprised. "Your...your highness?!" She rushed to me and hugged me, "I thought I'd never meet you again!" Tears of joy falling out of her eyes. "Athena, you've grown!" I said.

"I went back to Elluel, but I couldn't get in, I shot arrows at it, I casted magics on it, nothing worked. I thought I'd never go back to Elluel again!" Athena said, she's extremely overjoyed. "I'm sorry, Athena, I never warned you about it," I calmed her down and said.

"It's okay, your highness, you're safe, that's all I need to know," She said. "And what exactly brings you here, your highness?"

"I need an exact idea of what's happening around the world right now." I said.

"Well, that needs a bit of time, your highnes-. Oh, excuse me, your highness, can you wait for awhile?" She said as a young boy, albeit a very familiar one, with a dragon hovering behind him enters. "...Okay," I said, but at the same time paying attention to the detail of his face.

"...Freud?" I stared at him. I nearly rushed my way to him and hugged him. But I told myself to calm down. Calm down, Mercedes, Freud is dead, he's not Freud, he's not Freud. But there was no mistaking it, the eyes, the hair, everything! Even his action.

But Afrien was much larger, much bigger than his dragon. I went outside to talk with Phantom. But it seems like he's already seeing it coming, his palm, covering his face.

"I know what you want to ask, no, he's not Freud," He immediately said before I can say anything.

"I never said he's Freud," I looked at him, disappointed. "Is this what you're hiding from me?" Unknowingly, my hand formed a fist, shaking. "Tell me everything I need to know, right now."

"When I first meet him, I was surprised too. I asked Athena about him, his name is Evan apparently, and he too have an Onyx dragon just like Afrien," Phantom answered.

Right after he finished his words, I felt someone patting me in the shoulder. "Um, miss?" I turned around and pointed my bowgun right at the person. In the head.

The dragon is alerted and prepared in a stance, ready to fight. "No, calm down, Mir!" Evan said. Phantom stood aside and stayed out of this matter. "Why do you have this dragon, and how?" I asked him, in a quivering voice.

Athena is standing behind him, wordless. The situation is extremely awkward, but I didn't stand back. Even slightly. "Calm down, miss, why don't we discuss about this sitting down?" I am shaking, shivering, but I don't know exactly why.

But before I know it, I've collapsed. I've fallen onto the ground, and all I see is Phantom and Athena. "Mercedes, are you okay? Mercedes? Mercede... merce... mer..." That's all I've heard, and it's a pitch black.


	4. Chapter 4: Strange Decisions

** TheChewyyyX3: Thanks for all the**** review! Yes, I do proofread my work when I'm done, but sometimes my brain doesn't exactly work straight at all, I'll try to be more careful next time.  
**

**Yap yap yap, more same stuff.**

**There IS spoiler of Mercedes's story in here, if you don't want her storyline to be spoiled, I'd suggest leave now. **

**DISCLAIMER: I am not Nexon, therefore I don't own Maple Story. **

* * *

I regained consciousness, only to find out that I'm in a bed. "Ugh, I don't feel so well." I feel tired and my stomach is aching. "Where am I?" Looking around, nothing hints that this is my chamber, and I'm in a really thin and light pyjama, not what I am used to.

"Oh, you're finally awake, my queen! You had slept for a few hours by now." Athena entered through a door, carrying a tray. "You need to take a break, your highness," She said, "You haven't eat or drink for a few days by now I guess."

I nodded, it's true, way too much things have been going through my mind for me to be able to sit down and relax for a nice lunch break. "Thank you, Athena," I smiled and said.

"It's the least I could do for you, nothing comparable to what you're always doing." She took a seat beside me and handed me a drink from the tray.

I took the drink. "Where are those two?" I said while taking a sip.

"Those two? Oh, those two! They're outside, discussing about something." Athena said.

"Hmm, alright. Now that we've got some time, why don't you tell me what happened to this world?" I asked straight to the point.

Her face turned moody. "Well, long story short, Black Mage is back. A new organization, the Cygnus Knight is formed to fend and wipe the Black Mage off the Maple World for good. But..."

"...But?" I said.

"The Resistance, which is another group formed to fight against the Black Wings, have an unfortunate history with the Cygnus, so the Resistance won't trust and rely on the Cygnus at all." Athena shook her head, "The Cygnus wanted to redeem themselves, well, some of them, but the Resistance still refuses to assist them."

That's childish, I thought. "Is there anyway to convince the Resistance?" I asked.

"Well, there migh-" Before Athena can finish her words, the door creaked.

"Eek!" I quickly pulled up a piece of blanket. Phantom and Evan entered through the door. "As a gentleman, don't you know how to knock the door before entering a room with two ladies?" I questioned. People nowadays.

Athena snickered, Evan blushed and Phantom shown a 'sorry' face to me. "It's okay, " I giggled.

"Alright, as I wanted to say, you might be able to help out by paying Empress Cygnus a visit." Athena then continued her last sentence.

"Seems fair, where does Empress Cygnus live?" I asked.

"Ereve, all of Cygnus's Knights stay there," Evan answered.

"Looks like I'm going there and see if I could help. But..." I said.

"...But?" Everyone asked, simultaneously,

"I want someone to accompany me during the trip," I said, "...Evan? I'm sure you are willing, right?" I looked over at him, everyone looks surprised.

"Why me? Why not someone else?" Evan, confused, asked me for a reason.

"I want you to accompany me because I want you to accompany me, that simple." I smiled.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Athena whispered into my ears.

"I'm not sure, neither do I care." I whispered back. "Evan...?" I looked at him.

All of us stared at him. Under the stress that he's taking, he nodded. "Sure, since I have no other task currently, I'll go and get prepared."

After he left the room, Phantom immediately asked, "Are you sure that's a good call?"

"No, I'm not sure. But, I'd like to know. Who knows, he might surprise us. If things went sour..." I paused, "We'll see," I half-smiled.

"No one questions the queen, eh?" He smiled back.

"Right, Athena, where's my equipments?" I asked.

"In the wardrobe, your highness," She pointed at a wardrobe.

"Thanks, Athena. Phantom, I'm pretty sure you don't mind waiting outside while I get changed?" I looked at him smiling.

"Oh right, right, of course," He said blushing.

I quickly changed into my overalls, holstered my bowguns and went outside. It seems like Phantom and Evan is discussing about something, but they stopped when they see me coming, they stopped. "What are you guys discussing about?"

"Wha-? Oh, err, nothing," Evan answered sloppily.

"Hmm, I hope it's nothing, are you ready?" I asked.

"Y-yes, of course. I'm ready, Mir is waiting outside too." Evan said.

Something tells me that Phantom told Evan something that frightened him. "That's great, can you wait outside while I discuss something with Phantom?" Evan nodded and gone out. I looked at Phantom, "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing, your highness," He said while avoiding eye contact.

"It better be nothing," I glared at him.

"Well, I'm going back to Lumiere, good luck on your journey," He blessed.

"Thank you," I said. I know Phantom said something to Evan, sometimes he scares people with his words. Also, his face seems to darken right after I chose Evan over him. "Before you go, are you alright?" Concerned about him, I asked.

"N-I mean y-yes, I'm alright, t-thanks, b-bye," He said nervously.

I frowned, "...Take care of yourself well, Phantom, farewell," I said. He exited by jumping through a window, like he always does. It's until now that I know I'm actually still in the school and it's daytime, I've really slept for long. I walked my way out, and Evan is waiting outside with his dragon.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting so long, I had to discuss some matters with Phantom," I smiled, "So how do we get to Ereve?"

He looks surprised, perhaps of how much I don't know. "We'll have to get to Six Path Crossway first, and then we can take a boat to Ereve."

"We shall begin then, lead the way, would you?" I said.

"O-of course, follow me" He said.

He seems like an extremely impatient person, always walking far ahead of me. After awhile, he finally started a conversation with me. "Miss, how should I call you?"

"Oh, sorry about that! Just call me Mercedes," I smiled.

"U-uh, nice to meet you, Miss Mercedes. I'm, as you might know, Evan, and this here is Mir." He uncomfortably introduced me to his dragon and himself.

**"Hello, Miss Mercedes, sorry for my hostile action just now." **Apparently Mir can talk, but that's not a surprise as Afrien too can talk, I guess.

"Don't need to be so uncomfortable, call me Mercedes, I won't eat you." I laughed. "Also, it's my fault. Sometimes I can't control myself, especially under too much pressure." I apologized. Because I, being a queen, apologizing to someone that I don't know well isn't really my thing. But I don't want him to know who I am just yet, if he hasn't heard my name in the history book for what I did a few hundred years ago.

"Alright then, uh, Mercedes, may I know why are your ears pointy and so different from humans? You certainly don't look like fairies." He questioned.

I feel like I choked on something, my face turned red instantly. "U-uh, u-um, e-err..." Making all sorts of noise, "W-well, it-its passed down from my f-family, err, yeah." That's a close call!

"Uh-huh, okay," He nodded with suspicion.

Finally we arrived at the station. A strange creature is standing guard there. "Let me handle this, alright?" He said.

"What?! You're telling me, the ruler-," I paused. Strange looks gathered on me. "I mean, uh, okay." I nodded. I shouldn't have said anything about him knowing who I am, bah, I jinxed myself unfortunately.

He talked with the strange creature for a bit before coming to me. "He said it's 1,000 mesos for a ride," informing me that I have to pay 1,000 mesos.

I searched around in my backpack, before turning red, yet again. "Uh..." I looked at him, embarrassed.

"You don't have it do you? Well, never mind, I'll pay for you." He paid the strange creature 2,000 mesos and we finally got on board.

"It's a 5 minute ride, take your time," He said.

I looked outside, it's very pretty today. I like the views up here, and the wind caressing my hair. But although I can stay quiet for a day without chatting, he can't. Probably due to how young he is, but I do enjoy chatting to people.

"You know, Mercedes, I've always wondered, although you said there's no reason to it, why do you chose me to follow you along?" Evan said.

"Do you really want to know?" I turned around and stared at him.

"U-uh, y-yes." For some reason that panicked him.

It's all silence for a bit. Until I answered, but lying to him. "I thought it'd be fun because you fight with dragons."

He looks flattered. "O-oh."

After a few awkward conversations, here we are, in Ereve. FINALLY.


	5. An update on what I've been doing lately

**Right, you might be wondering why have I taken so long to write a chapter. It's due to recent exams and I've lost majority of my progress due to my computer messing up my .odt files. Therefore I have to rewrite the chapter again but fortunately I have a backup albeit it's an early one. But no worries, I am definitely writing it and it'll eventually be done Soon™. I hereby apologize for the long wait.  
**

**Until then, stay tuned.**


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